Tag: Christian

Facebook: Image of Jesus on the cross too shocking for advertisement

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

2018-04-03 rejected ad

An advertisement campaign for The Franciscan University of Steubenville’s MA Theology and MA Catechetics programs has been rejected by Facebook.  The reason given by the social media site?  An image of Jesus on the cross is shocking, sensational and has excessive violent content.

The image at issue features the San Damiano Cross with a crucified Jesus.  Facebook sent the university a notice that says, “”Your image, video thumbnail or video can’t contain shocking, sensational, or excessively violent content.”

The university released the following statement on its website:

The San Damiano Cross.  Jesus in glory, reigning from his cruciform throne. This is what the monitors at Facebook consider excessively violent, sensational, and shocking.

And indeed, the Crucifixion of Christ was all of those things. It was the most sensational action in history: man executed his God.

It was shocking, yes: God deigned to take on flesh and was “obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

And it was certainly excessively violent: a man scourged to within an inch of his life, nailed naked to a cross and left to die, all the hate of all the sin in the world poured out its wrath upon his humanity.

“but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, an absurdity to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jew and Gentile, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)

As Father Mike Schmitz points out in today’s #ShareJesus message, it was not the nails that held Jesus to the cross: he was God, he could have descended from the Cross at any moment. No, it was love that kept him there. Love for you and for me, that we might not be eternally condemned for our sins but might have life eternal with him and his Father in heaven.

This is sensational, this is shocking. This is only possible because of the excessive violence that he endured for us.

“He was despised and rejected of men.” It was ever thus and will ever be, for those who do not see with the eyes of faith, and love with a love unquenchable.

Facebook later said a spam detection tool was responsible for the ads rejection.

 

Colorado congregation holds Easter Sunday service after vandals cause $80K in damage

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment
DZZOeEdV4AAOyBa
File: Vandals damage the sanctuary of the North Huron Christian Center.

The sanctuary of a Colorado church was filled with the sounds of worship and praise just days after three people were arrested for causing over $80,000 in damage to the building.  The congregation of the North Huron Christian Center and Destiny Outreach Ministries held an Easter Sunday service in spite of the senseless vandalism.

Sarah Crawford, a church member, posted online, “WOW!! It’s been amazing to be a part of the cleanup efforts at Destiny Outreach Ministries over the past few days!! All the generosity of time, resources, and finances has blown us away!”

The three people arrested for causing the damage face felony charges including second-degree burglary and criminal mischief.  Police have not released a motive for the vandalism.

A Gofundme page has been set up to help the church cover the cost of the damage.

Daily thought: Is the church full of hypocrites?

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

EDITED CONGREGATION

Is the church full of hypocrites?  Absolutely!  Go to any church and you’ll find liars, adulterers and a list of sins so long I won’t even try to name them all.  Being a Christian does not mean never having sinned.  In fact, it means the opposite: it means knowing that everyone needs remission of sins. To be clear, remission is the act of deliverance from sin.   By definition, a Christian is one delivered from sin.  Because of this, all Christians are sinners, but they have been redeemed.

Being redeemed does not mean that Christians do not struggle with temptation to sin again.  Jesus told us not to puff up our chest and dare the devil to give us his best temptation. He said to ask that God deliver us from temptation.  Christians do struggle with sin, and this includes hypocrisy.

When someone asks, “is the Church full of hypocrites,” I sometimes wonder if they are actually asking if the people in the church are hypocrites BECAUSE they are Christians.  Of course not!  Hypocrisy is found among atheists, Buddhists, communists.  In short, it is a flaw in the human character. When critics point out there are hypocrites in church, it is kind of like the old joke where someone yells, “we’re all gonna die!” in a manner that insinuates something terrible is about to happen, when they are actually just saying that death is a certainty for everyone.  Christians are not hypocrites because they are Christians, they are imperfect people who acknowledge their imperfection.

Can you name any group as large as Christians, according to NPR around 2.2 billion, that does not have members involved in all of the above mentioned sins?   Perhaps rather than ask if this group or that group sins, we should ask what do men need because of their sins?

What do you think?

UPDATE: Three arrested in Colorado church vandalism

Published on by Texas Gospel1 Comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

(Photos: Thornton, Colorado police department)

Police in Thornton, Colorado say three 15-year-olds have been arrested for causing over $80,000 damage to a church the week before Easter.  According to the Denver Post, two were arrested Tuesday evening and one was arrested Wednesday morning. The identity of the suspects has not been released because of their age.

The trio broke windows, punched holes in walls and destroyed musical instruments at the North Huron Christian Center. A tweet from the Thornton Police Department described the act as, “malicious destruction of church property.”  A police spokesperson has not said why the three wanted to damage the church.

According to TexasGospel.com file stories, Pastor Renee Coventry says the congregation will hold Easter services in the building.

A Go Fund Me page with a modest goal of raising $5,000 to help the church has been set up.  As of early Thursday morning, the fund has reached $3,877.

Go Fund Me page set up to help GA church after vandals trash sanctuary days before Easter

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment
church damage
Vandals heavily damage sanctuary in Colorado (Photo: Go Fund Me)

Smashed musical instruments, shattered glass and holes punched through the walls greeted the congregation of a Colorado church as they discovered the handiwork of vandals who attached the church building early Monday morning.

Investigators believe the damage was done around 3 a.m. Monday. According to a report in the Denver Post, police are looking for three teenage boys who were seen running from the church building of Destiny Outreach Ministries.

“Words can’t describe how heartbreaking this is. You give your life to a community and you invest in the community’s children and their people. This is not our community. This is not the City of Thornton,” Pastor Renee Coventry told Denver’s CBS television affiliate.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the church.  Damage is estimated in the thousands.